Type 1 Diabetes: Greater Glucose Variability Observed Prior to Puberty

The HbA1c blood test has been carried out continuously for the last many years to be used to assess long-term blood glucose control in people with diabetes. This test gives a picture of blood glucose levels over the last 3 to 4 months, expressing how high or low someone’s average glucose levels are but if you are not aware then let me tell you that the HbA1c doesn’t tell you anything about glucose variability in regards to the blood glucose control.

Impact Of Glucose Variability

Extremely inconstant blood glucose levels are deemed unhealthy for several reasons, including a higher risk for both hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) and hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). With time the stress generated due to such situations put on the body can produce lasting damage, in extension to being potentially vulnerable at the moment. So, it’s always advised to keep swings in the blood glucose levels to a minimum or have a check on its levels.

The Study Conducted On Glucose Variability

Pediatric diabetologist who have met adolescents with type 1 diabetes had many questions which emerged concerning the possibilities of keeping a good metabolic control during puberty. Even with great efforts from the patient, it seems an unattainable task. To get a clearer understanding a modern study on blood glucose control in youth with type 1 diabetes was conducted.

As per the recent study printed in the Journal Diabetes Care, around 107 participants, aged between 8 to 17 years with diabetes were taken for study for at around a year. Each attendant wore a constant glucose monitoring (CGM) system that showed glucose levels for 4 weeks as part of the study. Most participants i.e. 88% wore an insulin pump as part of their regular diabetes therapy.

Along with CGM tracking, candidates also took an HbA1c test as part of the research. The average HbA1c result was 7.8%, showing slightly less than absolute but not disastrous levels of blood glucose control overall. With the real time data of blood glucose reflected by the Continuous glucose monitoring, HbA1c was found to be the only part of the picture when it comes to estimating blood glucose control.

Moreover, there was greater variability in Continuous Glucose Monitoring among participants who hadn’t gone through puberty yet, compared with those who were going through or had already gone through puberty.

Conclusion

In the clinic, it has been observed the impression that the blood glucose values are unstable during puberty. After the study, it was inferred that the morning blood glucose levels tend to be high and increased insulin doses in the nights often induce hypoglycemia during the night.
The average standard deviation which is a statistical measure of variability showed that in the pre-puberty group blood sugar level was 86 mg/dl, matched with 79 mg/dl in the puberty group and 77 mg/dl in the post-puberty group. Therefore, it was concluded, that pre-puberty group had glucose accounts that were most remote from their average reading.

The experts concluded that due to greater glucose variability, pre-puberty youth with type 1 diabetes could profit from using a CGM system. This could help their the diabetologist or the physician in examining or spotting problems with blood glucose control that aren’t revealed by a standard HbA1c test or more occasional fingerstick tests.

Reference

If you are looking to put a check on your varying blood glucose level try meeting Dr. Mudit Sabharwal for your high blood sugar treatment in Delhi. He knows how to help you get better blood glucose control.

Categorised in: Type 1 Diabetes